Easy open - easy load - easy grip bag

ABSTRACT

A four wall flat bottom bag made with an additional gusset at each corner that extends outside the walls of the bag, making the bag much easier to grip and carry when filled by gripping the outward facing corner gussets as handles. The outward facing gussets make the bag easier to open, by gripping the gussets to pull the bag open when tall bags cannot be reached from the inside bottom to push open. The outward facing gussets help to keep the bag open by providing additional expansion and support at the corners. The outward facing gussets give the bag more stability, making it less likely to tip over when filled. The gussets make the bag less likely to tear at the mouth when being filled by creating a larger opening, making the bag much easier to fill and increasing its capacity.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/927,860 filed on May 4, 2007.

TECHNICAL FIELD AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a four wall flat bottom bag with improved functionality.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Four wall flat bottom bags such as the type of paper bag used to hold lawn debris have the disadvantage of being difficult to open, difficult to load, difficult to grip for carrying when filled and difficult to keep in an upright position when filled.

Another disadvantage is that it's very difficult to expand the bottom area of the current lawn debris bags because the body of the bag is too narrow for the user to reach deep enough into the bottom of the inside of a tall lawn bag in order to expand the bottom area of the bag.

Another disadvantage is that the current bag is difficult to grip and to carry after it has been filled.

Another disadvantage of the current type of square bottom paper bag that's used to hold lawn debris is that it's difficult for the mouth of the bag and for the base of the bag to stay open because the bag will often collapse back into its original folded position when the user attempts to fill it with debris.

Another disadvantage of the current bag design is that many consumers find it necessary to use an additional device to hold the bag open while filling it. U.S. patent 2001/003911 A1 discloses an adjustable device for holding yard waste bags in an open position. The advantage to the invention is that the mouth of the yard bag is held open. The invention however, has the disadvantage of the consumer needing to use an additional device to keep the bag open. It has a further disadvantage of not keeping the bottom of the bag from collapsing before the lawn debris is placed into the bag.

Another disadvantage is that the current paper lawn debris bags fall over easily when filled. U.S. patent 2003/0218104 A1 discloses a device that holds a bag for grass clippings in an upright position. The invention has the disadvantage of requiring the consumer to use both an upper section and a lower section of an additional device to allow for filling the bag and for keeping it in an upright position.

Another disadvantage of the current lawn and leaf bag is that the limited opening size created by the vertical angles of the sides of the current lawn debris bag creates more stress at the opening of the bag when filling it, causing the bag to tear easily at the opening.

Another disadvantage is that the vertical sides of the current lawn debris bags cause the size of the opening to be limited with respect to the size of the base of the bag and this limited opening size makes the bags difficult to load.

Another disadvantage of the current flat bottom paper bag is that the bag capacity is limited with respect to the size of the base of the bag.

A disadvantage of the standard flat bottom grocery bag is that if a consumer wants to reuse it for household garbage, its small opening makes it difficult to fill, which discourages reuse of the bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

The present invention is a four wall flat bottom bag that is easier to open, easier to load, easier to grip for carrying and stands more stable than current flat bottom bags. The invention is a standard four wall flat bottom bag with an additional outward facing gusset at each corner of the bag, projecting beyond the outside walls of the bag. The outward gussets may be folded flat against the side panels of the bag. The bag may be folded in the same manner as a standard folding flat bottom paper bag.

An advantage of this invention is that the outward direction of the gussets will allow the user to open the bag more easily than a bag with strictly inward facing gussets which have a tendency to fold back into place while the user is trying to open the bag. A further advantage of the outward gussets is that the bag will stay open by itself, eliminating the need for an additional device to hold the mouth of the bag open. (FIG. 4)

Another advantage is that the additional outward gussets at each corner expand to make the opening of the bag larger, allowing for easier loading. (FIG. 3)

Another advantage is that the outward gussets also help to prevent the bag from tearing at the opening by changing the angles of the walls from a straight vertical position to a slightly angled position which puts less stress on the edges of the opening of the bag while being filled.

Another advantage is that the outward gussets may be used as handles, making the bag much easier to grip and to carry after the bag has been filled. (FIG. 6)

A variation of the bag may include die cuts into the outward corner gussets to create additional detailing of the handles. (FIG. 9)

Another advantage of the outward facing corner gussets is that they add greater stability to the bag structure, helping to keep it from falling over when filled, eliminating the need for an additional device to keep the bag from falling over when filling it or for when the bag is completely filled. (FIG. 4)

A further advantage is that the additional outward corner gussets provide greater load capacity

Another advantage of the invention is that the bag may be opened by pulling the outside corner gussets, starting near the base of the bag and working up to the top of the bag. Or, if the user prefers, the larger opening created by the outward gussets allows the user adequate room to reach deeper into the inside of the bag in order to expand the bottom area of the gussets from the inside of the bag.

Another advantage is that a grocery bag made in this manner will create a larger opening, making the bag easier to fill which will encourage reuse of the bag for household garbage.

A still further advantage is that if this outward gusset bag is used for sand bags, it permits one person to shovel sand into the open bag without another person being required to hold the sand bag open.

Another advantage of this outward gusset bag is that it may be used for any type of bag, including but not limited to leaf and lawn debris bags, grocery bags, garbage bags or sand bags.

Another advantage is that this outward gusset bag may be made with paper, plastic, fabric or any type of material.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an angled view of the bag, showing the four outward corner gussets.

FIG. 1A is a photo of an angled view of the bag, showing the four outward corner gussets.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the bag, showing the outward corner gussets folded against the bottom of the side panel of the bag.

FIG. 2A is a photo of a side view of the bag, showing the outward corner gussets folded against the bottom of the side panel of the bag.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the bag, showing the four outward corner gussets.

FIG. 3A is a photo of a top view of the bag, showing the four outward corner gussets.

FIG. 4 is a front/top view of the bag, showing the four outward corner gussets.

FIG. 4A is a photo of a front/top view of the bag, showing the four outward corner gussets.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the bag, showing the expanded corner gussets.

FIG. 5A is a photo of a front view of the bag, showing the expanded corner gussets.

FIG. 6 is a view of the user gripping two of the outward corner gussets, using them as handles.

FIG. 6A is a photo of a view of the user gripping two of the outward corner gussets, using them as handles.

FIG. 8 is a view of the bag, partially folded.

FIG. 8A is a photo of a view of the bag, partially folded.

FIG. 9 is a view of the pattern for making the bag, including the variations of the die cut handles and optional step tab. 

1. A four wall flat bottom bag made from a single sheet of paper or matter with an additional gusset at each corner that extends in an outward direction, beyond the outside walls of the bag and runs the entire length of the bag, including the base. The outward facing gussets at each corner do not require any additional adhesives and are intended to expand into an open position and to remain open.
 2. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets make the bag much easier to grip and carry when filled by gripping the outward facing corner gussets and using them as handles.
 3. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets make the bag much easier to open by gripping the gussets to pull the bag open, especially when a tall bag cannot be reached from the inside bottom of the bag to push it open.
 4. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets assist in keeping the bag open by providing additional expansion at the corners.
 5. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets assist in keeping the bag open by providing additional stiffness at the corners.
 6. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets give the bag more stability, making it less likely to tip over when filled.
 7. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets create a larger opening, making the bag less likely to tear at the mouth when being filled.
 8. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets create a larger opening, making the bag much easier to fill.
 9. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets increase the capacity of the bag.
 10. A bag according to claim 1, wherein the outward facing corner gussets may include die cutting to create additional detailing of the handles. 